


The Iron Sky Comes Crumbling Down Tonight

by the_lie_eternal



Category: Auf Streife
Genre: Abduction, Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Blood, Hurt/Comfort, I just had to write this, Love, M/M, No Sexual Content, Police, Torture, Triggers, Violence, emotional happenings, horrible shit happens, it won't get worse than this, this is the worst Angst I will ever write
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-13
Updated: 2019-12-13
Packaged: 2021-02-25 22:01:55
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,519
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21782620
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_lie_eternal/pseuds/the_lie_eternal
Summary: An abduction that would mess up the whole police department, and in the middle of it a young policeman who is just trying to save the life of his partner.
Relationships: Moritz Breuer/Arne Schneider
Kudos: 7





	The Iron Sky Comes Crumbling Down Tonight

**Author's Note:**

> This massive thing is based off Sunrise Avenue's "Iron Sky" as I always wanted to write an Angst-driven fic to this song. Listen to the song, then you'll understand my motivaton for this. I also have a tendency to make my faves suffer as hard as I can so I guess this is the peak of it.

Smoothly Moritz dropped his sneakers into his locker, grabbing the boots at the same time to sit down on the bench to put them on. A smile was playing on his face, however if anyone would ask him about his good mood, he most certainly had to lie because he’d cover the person asking in pure uncomfortableness. A door was heard shut, and even though Moritz sat with his back to it, the steps approaching were unique for him. Not much of a surprise left, a person wrapped his arms around the blondie and at least at this point it was clear who caught him sneaking into the locker room of the police department.

“I thought you would sleep in and I’d have to wake you up on patrol drive.” a well-known voice chuckled, and Moritz felt a smooch on his cheek. His smile only widened, how would he be able to properly work like this.

“What do you even think of me?” Moritz raised his brows, turning his head to face his partner, who was still standing behind him, hands wrapped around his torso. Moritz thought that his heart might’ve skipped some beats as his eyes locked with the blueish ones of the other man.

“You really don’t want to know that.” Arne grinned, leaning in to bury them in a few – their opinion – way too short kisses, before unwrapping from each other again. Moritz raised from the bench, readying himself to start his duty. Arne silently watched his lover attaching the weapon belt.

“You’re so handsome.” the smaller man murmured as Moritz closed the door of his locker, finished with his preparations. Arne just couldn’t resist to step closer once again, laying both of his hands on his partner’s shoulders and brushing his thumbs over Moritz’ collarbones. The blondie smiled, pulling Arne closer by the protection vest he was wearing to share another, longer kiss before it became ridiculous. Would anyone see them like this, they would instantly know what happened off-duty between them. It was a known fact that Moritz and Arne were a couple, yet they wanted to keep their musings down at work. Feelings couldn’t be contained, though, so the twine spent a few minutes of being close before they were going to be parted for the rest of the day. It was almost end for Arne’s early shift, while Moritz’ late shift just started. They didn’t even wonder anymore if Martin, their boss, separated them on purpose – because he definitely did and it was understandable.

Just as the couple entered through the entrance of the department, Paul already approached them with a smile. “Hey Moritz, good to see you. Arne, we have work to do.” he stated, throwing the keys at said man.

“See you later, then.” Arne whispered, patting his partner’s shoulder.

“Stay safe out there, and take care of Paul.” Moritz replied, receiving a complaint from the policeman standing next to them.

“If someone has to take care, then it’s me of Arne!” Paul chuckled and left with his colleague. Moritz still shook his head about it, waiting until he heard the patrol car audibly leaving the parking lot before getting updated to the happenings of the day by his colleague Isabel.

“Decker! Breuer!” the voice of the boss was heard shouting through the department. Moritz, who was standing behind the reception, turned around to face Martin approaching. Ben was seen lurking out of his office down the hallway.

“16/20 need support, go out and check them out, will you? You take 16/26.” the boss stated, and both policemen didn’t even hesitate to get their vests on to see what their colleagues were up to. Driving down the street soon after, Moritz came to the realization why Martin called their colleagues’ patrol by number and not by names. 16/20 were Arne and Paul, and a bad feeling began to visibly spread inside of Moritz’ body.

He gulped as Ben drove into said street, the view that was given to them wasn’t expected by both of them – a familiar-looking patrol car, set against a tree on the roadside. Moritz began trembling, and he couldn’t even wait until their car was standing to rush off his seat and towards the accident.

“… Arne?” the inspector muttered as he spotted the empty passenger-seat covered in blood and Paul looking everything but well on the drivers-seat. He laid face first on the steering wheel, murmuring some weird things while his face was covered in blood from the giant wound on his forehead. While Moritz visibly began panicking, Ben was glad to have more chill, even though he didn’t enjoy the view of his colleague either. He was the one to call an immediate ambulance and went to inform the department what happened, while the younger policeman anxiously scanned the near surroundings, screaming out the name of his partner. But Arne was nowhere to be seen.

Paul looked horrible, even after the paramedics cared for him. He needed to be send to hospital, nobody was sure if his organs or something else got injured from the crash. Yet, Paul desperately asked for his colleagues before driven to the emergency room.

Ben stepped in first, followed by Moritz who was trying way too hard to keep down the panic he felt and the fear he had about his boyfriend.

“You … you immediately have to open a search for … for Arne. Arne was k-kidnapped. I passed out just in the m-moment they … pulled him v-violently out of th-the … the car.” the smaller policeman had trouble speaking, and right after he got rid of his information to his colleagues, Ben and Moritz were sent out of the ambulance before it raced off to the hospital.

A sudden silence filled the street and Ben didn’t even dare to look at his colleague. Moritz felt as if he was going to vomit, as if someone cut open his chest and threw burning acid into it. His knees lost their strength, but for some reason he wasn’t going to cry. Ben caught his colleague before he could fall onto the ground, and immediately Moritz deeply dug his fingers into Ben’s back and shoulder. This is what it felt like to die, the younger man thought. When your body dies but your brain keeps working.

“It’s okay, we will find him.” Ben whispered as he half pulled, half carried Moritz over to their patrol car, placing him back onto the passenger-seat. Moritz wasn’t able to say anything; he didn’t even _feel_ anything. His world became a void, and he couldn’t even listen to what Ben continued to tell him, that Moritz should stay there and Ben would do the remaining job.

Why would anyone kidnap Arne, Moritz asked out loudly, this must’ve been a very horribly realistic nightmare of which he would wake up very soon.

Moritz hit himself, several times, and he didn’t wake up.

//

His eyes rushed open but the darkness didn’t disappear, all he felt was a rumbling, as if he sat in a car driving wildly on the streets. Arne tried to shout for help, but a disgusting tasting cloth kept him from making just a tiny sound. He tried to move his arms and legs, to no surprise they were obviously entirely tied up.

Paul, he was on patrol with Paul, on their way back from a case when … what exactly happened? All he remembered was suddenly hitting his head against the front of their car and then … Paul passed out and Arne was hit by a person several times after the crash before he too lost his consciousness. Was he kidnapped? Did someone cause them to crash?

Before Arne could think further, a way too big road bump appeared suddenly out of nowhere, making the policeman helplessly bang his head against the metal floor of the transporter he apparently laid in and let him flash out the world around him again.

//

“The patrols didn’t find anything, we have absolutely zero clues of Arne’s whereabouts because Paul passed out after the accident, and where the fuck is Moritz? I don’t need another colleague going missing, and most of all not these two at the same time!” Martin exclaimed madly, not because of Moritz’ absence but because of the mere fact he had absolutely no power in his hands to find out who or where Arne was kidnapped to. Paul was still in the hospital, yet his mind had been clear enough to give his colleagues everything he knew about the accident and what he saw before it went black around him. He wanted to help, so badly, yet what was left in Paul’s mind was the mere thought that it’s his fault that Arne was kidnapped.

Florian silently sneaked outside the big meeting room where all colleagues on shift gathered to plan the next steps of saving Arne. Florian knew where he would find Moritz, and he also knew that he couldn’t leave his friend alone in this situation. Carefully, he opened the door leading to the locker room, where he was greeted by the hurting sounds of Moritz crying his eyes out.

“Hey.” Florian whispered, placing himself next to his colleague, wrapping his arm around Moritz’ shoulder. Said man didn’t reply, just continued crying even worse, now that someone was next to him. “It’s going to be okay.” the dark-haired man added, trying to comfort the other man.

“Everyone tells me that.” Moritz sniveled, looking at Florian with his red and teary eyes. “Everyone says they will find him but all they do is sitting in this department, waiting until Arne walks back through the door or something!” his voice raised, but didn’t get far until it cracked again and a new wave of tears escaped his eyes.

“Mo, listen.” Florian tried to calm his friend as good as possible. “We searched for hours, and patrols are still out searching. We don’t have any clues yet, but we want Arne back just as much as you do. We won’t leave you hanging, no worries.”

It was silent for a few minutes, time enough for the blondie to sort his thoughts anew and stop furiously crying, at least for the next few blinks of his eyes. “Why him, Flo? Arne never did ever something wrong in his life, he wears the whitest vest of all of us.”

“Those who deserve it the least are always the victims, that’s the sad reality. We should go upstairs, the guys and girls worry about you and your well-being. Maybe it could cheer you up a bit, too.” Florian stated, standing up from the bench they were sitting on. Moritz slowly followed his movements. He didn’t feel much – in general, since the incident – like going among his colleagues. He couldn’t even think straight, not even form proper sentences when asked unprepared. Florian lead Moritz into one of the quieter offices, where the younger inspector could calm down some more.

//

“Wake! UP!” shouted the masked person, smashing Arne out of his unconsciousness with the last hit. It took the policeman a few seconds to realize in which situation he was in again, and the sudden throw into it made him instantly panic.

He tried to scream, but his mouth was still gagged.

He tried to free his hands, but they were neatly and horribly tightly tied behind his back, right onto a pole against the wall.

He tried to kick for his kidnapper, but his feet were tied together even worse.

Arne looked around himself, seeing something which was like a bunker or something, and it felt weirdly familiar … just as familiar as the voice that just shouted at him. Both realizations didn’t help him out of his misery much, though. The accident, right … Paul smashing his face against the steering wheel and Arne himself being pulled out of the car before passing out …

The policeman grunted out, angrily mocking the masked kidnapper in front of him. The criminal just laughed at the sight, a small helpless bringer of justice, trying to intimidate him – nice try, but it wouldn’t work.

Arne quickly realized that there was absolutely nothing that he could do to save himself. He closed his eyes, taking several deep breaths through his nose. Moritz and his colleagues … Mo-

And before Arne could finish his thought, another fist landed in his face and he passed out once more.

“Useless piece of shit.” the kidnapper shouted, leaving the room and his victim alone until the policeman would wake up by himself again.

//

“Moritz, just … what are you doing here? Have you been here the whole night?” Martin asked as he walked into the office where Moritz still sat in. By then it was already the morning of the next day, the search with all forces was broke off some time after midnight as nothing suspicious was found all around Cologne, yet the young inspector hasn’t left his chair since Florian placed him there the night before.

“We have to find him …” Moritz stuttered with a faint voice, wrapped with his trembling hands around an empty cup of coffee. His eyes were colored in a deep red from the sleep he obviously didn’t get in the past few hours, his blonde hair filthy from his endless nervous strokes through it and his uniform just entirely messed up. Martin shook his head, it made him sad to see one of his best men broken like this.

“You should go home, get some sleep and rest.” the boss walked up to the policeman, patting said man’s shoulder. “You aren’t helping the investigations. You know how it is, relatives to the victims and all.”

Moritz knew that Martin didn’t mean it insulting, but what was his head even after being awake for 24 hours with an almost traumatizing experience in the whole duration. The blondie stared at the other man with a face nobody would deserve, and even less his literal boss. “My boyfriend is somewhere out there, possibly even dead, and you want me to go home and just chill out? Are you serious?” Moritz began hissing at Martin, and it would’ve escalated pretty badly wouldn’t had Florian walked in just in time to calm his friend once again.

“Florian will get you home. We will keep you updated on the case. Dismissed.” Martin rolled his eyes, leaving the office to lower the negative tension that was building up between them.

“Martin is just as tense as you are, and he means the best for you and your health.” Florian stated as he helped Moritz changing his clothes and stucking everything back into his bag. The blondie felt helpless and weak, wouldn’t it be Florian helping him he would’ve been so ashamed of the state he was in. He knew that his colleague understood him, so much more than the other policewomen and policemen.

Moritz felt the tears filling his eyes again as he approached the front door of his and Arne’s house. He knew that he couldn’t do it, as soon as Florian would leave him to go back to work, Moritz would fall into a void he wouldn’t be able to escape anymore.

Their house felt uncomfortably silent and cursed. The blondie stepped through the hallway, trying to not focus on the pictures standing on the sideboard. His heart ached, yet he was unsure if it was because of his love taken from him or the mere fact he was horribly exhausted. Moritz didn’t even make it further than the living room, where his knees gave up their strength and he passed out face first onto the couch. He was gone, instantly.

Inside of his dreams was a horrible mess, nothing he really could make out except the obvious features of nightmares that showed Arne in situations that made Moritz sick. He would’ve given everything to have back his partner by his side – even if it was his own life.

//

He couldn’t say what time it was, left alone which day and most certainly how long he had already been trapped inside of this dark, depressing and cold bunker. He felt his own warm blood running down his hands every time he tried to shift just a little bit. His face burned from all the hits he already had to suffer from. He also wasn’t sure if he could even feel his legs anymore, that’s how impossible it was for him to move. The cloth inside of his mouth was soaked in his blood, that’s how it tasted like, and all in all Arne knew that every other place in this world was paradise compared to this. What was Moritz doing in this moment, Arne wondered. Were his colleagues searching for him? Or has it been too long, have they already lost the trails and cancelled the solving of the case? No, not with Moritz by his side, that’s what Arne was sure of, and that’s what also kept him standing strong in the most humiliating state he was ever put in.

“Good morning, sucker!” the familiar voice of Arne’s torturer was heard from the near hallway, and the policeman knew that he would have to keep himself together. For Moritz. The man, as Arne guessed, still wore a mask to cover his face. The policeman deemed it to be useless, he wouldn’t survive this encounter anyway.

Arne raised his brows, wondering what would happen this time, what the kidnapper found funny to do on this _beautiful_ day. The chief inspector was ready, he was prepared for the pain, he knew that there was a light at the end of the tunnel – would it be his rescue or his death.

He bit on the cloth as hard as he could, his hands cramped so hard that he could feel his fingernails piercing his own skin inside of his palms. He didn’t even care about the scars his kidnapper was causing him with the glowing metal stick, hitting him over and over through the face. The thing he most cared about was to not shed a single tear, to not show his torturer any weakness. Arne felt how his skin burned off his face, he wondered how he could even be still alive at this point. The kidnapper seemed reckless and violent, yet he knew exactly what to do to make the policeman suffer, not to merciless kill him.

“This … this will teach you a lesson, for now.” the man hissed, laughing like a maniac. Arne was trembling of anger, trying to ignore the fact his face, arms and parts of his uniform were covered in burn-marks and deep bleeding scratches.

“They will never find you. You will be stuck in here with me forever. You are paying the price for what you did.” The metal stick was thrown onto the ground, missing Arne just by a bit. Then the torturer was done with his victim for another few hours.

_You’re a danger to yourself, and to me and all my friends if you underestimate them_ – Arne thought as he dizzily watched the steps disappearing in the shadows – _because they are savage to the bone and they’ll never leave you alone until they have taken your head._

The chief inspector leaned his head back against the wall. At least he had breaks between his tortures, that was something.

//

13:00. Moritz stared at the numbers. 13:01. 13:02. 13:23. Right, Arne got kidnapped. The blondie scratched his head, checking the date. He slept through a whole day. Would Arne even still be alive at this point? It was almost exactly two days since he went missing, and Moritz felt absolutely nothing anymore, as if someone just cut out the part of the brain that processed his feelings.

His appetite was non-existent but a cold shower was somehow the most desirable thing he had on his mind in that moment. Just standing below the freezing rain made Moritz’ mind much clearer, waking his motivation and control over his body.

Arne got kidnapped, and he was excluded of the investigations.

That’s what the inspector thought about as he was drying off his messy uncombed hair, looking at himself in the mirror.

“You look horrible, dipshit.” he told his own reflection, studying the dark corners around his eyes and his pale skin. With a long exhausted sigh he put on his pants, ignoring the shirt he too took out of his wardrobe. Who would be there to judge him walking around his house shirtless? Exactly, nobody. And it made the blondie sad. Some more minutes were spent in front of the mirror until his hair looked useable again, then some kind of force made Moritz step out of the bathroom and walk into the direction of his front door. A letter laid down at the porch, and on first sight the blondie knew that the real deal around the abduction of Arne just began.

With a trembling hand, Moritz pulled out whatever was hidden inside the envelope without sender.

“My love …” he whispered, staring at the single picture he got out of the letter. Tears filled his eyes, and for the first time since the incident, Moritz knew that he cried because of how much he missed Arne. It wasn’t fear or worry, anxiety or anger. It was his broken heart, and the fact he knew that Arne was tied up in some dark building and not by his side.

“You probably put your own fingerprints all over it, am I right?” Martin crossed his arms as he looked at the envelope and picture laying in front of him. He didn’t even twitch as he saw Arne on the photograph, entirely tied up laying in what seemed to be a bunker-like building with wounds all over his face and arms, blood not even counting.

“If the kidnapper was intelligent enough to not leave any clues at the place of abduction, he most certainly didn’t touch this with his bare hands.” Stephan raised his brows and the boss took back his judgement towards Moritz, who sat on one of the chairs in the head-office. Around him stood said two men, Florian and furthermore Ben and Isabel.

“The fact they left no trace, that they knew exactly which patrol car needed to be crashed and that they also know about Arne’s relationship and basically everything regarding his life and job, this abduction must’ve been planned for more than just a few days. The person who did this must be observing our colleague for several months now, maybe even more.” the policewoman counted together the way too few pieces they had of the huge puzzle regarding the missing of the chief inspector.

“They sent this picture to Moritz on purpose, maybe we should interrogate you a bit closer in this light.” Martin raised his brows and stepped closer towards the blondie, yet he quickly felt the hand of another blondie against his chest, and Ben just shook his head at his boss.

“You waste your thoughts if you really think Moritz is somehow part of _his boyfriend’s_ kidnapping. He told us everything he knows and as you see, he contacts us at any clues coming into his hands. Leave him alone, he has enough problems.” Florian spoke up as he defensively put one of his hands on his friends’ shoulder. He knew the pain Moritz went through since it happened, and he would give his life for the inspector’s honesty and innocence.

Moritz sat on the small staircase outside of the department. The picture most of all did exactly what it was supposed to: Not helping the investigation but turning Moritz’ sanity to the worst. He sighed, staring into the sky. It would rain soon, the sunny days were finding their end … just like the hope that Arne would be found – alive and well by given circumstances.

Steps were heard walking down the stairs behind him, and a few moments later Stephan placed himself next to Moritz. The chief inspector was known for his _amazing_ sympathy and the younger man rolled his eyes, wondering who thought it would be a good idea to send exactly him to care for a mentally very unstable colleague.

“At least you know he’s alive.” Stephan said, probably not knowing that comments like these only worsened the situation.

“Steph, just … don’t.” Moritz murmured, not even giving the policeman a look. He felt the tears raising into his eyes again, and every wrong word could’ve triggered yet another wave of emotions. Well, Sindera was sitting next to him so the blondie already prepared for the worst.

“You can breathe up a bit. Of course, he didn’t look quite healthy but …” the dark-haired man started and Moritz already stopped listening as the droplets started flowing down his face.

“Shut up! Even if he is alive, he’s laying in some shithole and I don’t know if that makes this situation any better!” the blondie interrupted Stephan’s poor tries of talking well, pushing the other man away from him. “Leave me alone, please.” he added, covering his face in his palms as he began horribly sobbing.

//

He barely could keep his eyes open, that’s how tired he was. Tired of his situation, tired of the tortures, tired of the fact that he missed his colleagues and most of all his partner. Breathing became harder as his throat basically dried out, the feel of starving already left on the second day of his abduction and the fact that he probably lost more blood than a human usually would was exhausting. Still, he didn’t shed a single tear. Tears were made for the moments when Moritz gave him completely exaggerated gifts, when Moritz called him by the sweetest nicknames, just when Moritz was by his side and made him feel loved. That’s when Arne cried, because he was happy and thankful. Arne could feel it, that his love was still searching for him, that he would never turn him down.

Just as he scanned the room around him to make out an exceptionally colorful and actually quite familiar looking graffiti on the wall, steps were heard approaching and the policeman felt his muscles tensing up immediately. By now, his body was prepared for the upcoming happenings. However, something was different this time, as his kidnapper approached. The mask was missing.

“Good morning, shitface.” said the familiar voice and it was in that moment when Arne realized who was standing in front of him. Adrenaline rushed through his veins, for a solid few seconds he actually felt awake and well, which exhausted him right afterwards again.

“It was due that I’d finally reveal my face, I expected you to find out sooner.” the tall and broad man said, standing arms crossed in front of his victim. Jakob Strauss, oh how well Arne knew him. It haunted the chief inspector for months, the exhausting case around this particular man standing in front of him, who was supposed to rot in a prison cell for eternity but apparently broke this law just as much as all the others. Since the closing of the case, Arne didn’t lose a single thought about him anymore. He thought he would never have to rethink the case; to never touch the hell he went through to prove this man’s crimes.

And yet there he stood, the well-known glowing metal stick in his hands.

Arne began trembling as he looked into the black eyes of Jakob, the insane smile forming on his lips. Don’t cry, the policeman told himself, whatever happens, don’t cry.

“I want to hear you scream, I want to hear you beg for mercy.” Jakob hissed, taking out a knife to cut the cloth from Arne's face, obviously cutting into his skin in the same movement. The policeman spat out the bloodied cloth, but didn't have the power to scream for help. His vocal cords made absolutely no sounds, and as Jakob laughed manically while tightening his grip around the stick, Arne knew that he was going to die.

Warm tears were flowing down his bleeding cheeks, the screams he let out were hurting his throat. All previous beatings were kindergarten compared to what was happening to the policeman and for the first time during all these days, Arne wished to die on spot. He prayed to fall dead, to not suffer anymore.

Eyes clinched together, horribly sobbing Arne found himself in darkness. He couldn’t make out when or where his torturer left. However, he felt himself gagged again.

Moritz, Arne cried out. Over and over again. All that was in his mind was the face of his lover, possibly the only one who would be able to save him from this hell on earth.

Stay alive, Arne thought, forcing himself to keep a mind as clear as possible. Stay alive, for him.

//

He just couldn’t get used to the horrible cold space in his bed, and he didn’t want to also. It was the third day since he saw his partner for the last time, and the progress of investigation hasn’t changed just a single percentage. Moritz studied the ceiling above the bed, neatly white and innocent looking. He had to smile, thinking about the memories he and Arne already made on this furniture, and he blushed as he realized what he actually thought about. He missed Arne, that was a fact,

Who would be insane enough to stalk and observe his lover until the point where to think that an abduction would be fitting. Arne was a policeman and it wasn’t unusual to have enemies in this job, so interrogating all of them would be an impossible task. However – Moritz’ eyes shut open – wasn’t there a case that exhausted his partner so much, he had to spontaneously use his holiday to entirely recover from it? It had been some months since that case was closed and the blondie couldn’t remember most of it anymore, but maybe it could’ve been a clue. He had nothing to lose.

And off to the department he went.

“Moritz?” the familiar gentle voice of Tom reached said man’s ears as he stumbled into the department, entirely out of breath. He didn’t remember ever being this exhausted by taking six steps upstairs. Alarmed by the name, Martin too joined the scene at the reception, for some reason, he seemed to be way more relaxed than the past days.

“I’m just here because I remembered something, a case that-“ Moritz explained but was interrupted by his phone ringing. Confusion filled the hallway as everyone knew only Arne would call the blondie and that one was obviously … bounded.

_Incoming video call – Arne <3 _

Immediately, Martin accepted the call as Moritz was frozen by the look onto his phone, and what they saw after that wouldn’t be easy to handle at all, for everyone present in just this moment.

“You’re live on cam, tell your boy how much you love him.” the voice coming from possibly a maniac screeched through the speakers, camera pointed at the person chained to the pole. It was Arne. Everyone knew that it was Arne even though he wasn’t even recognizable anymore, that’s how horrible his face was disfigured. He was crying, trembling, screaming as well as he could through the cloth.

Moritz couldn’t move, lifelessly staring at the screen on which the kidnapper now started to kick his partner over and over into the face, before he let out a painful laughter. Call ended.

The graffiti, Moritz thought, but he could make his thoughts audible as he felt the inside of his stomach turning around. He clawed his hand into his torso while starting to horribly tremble. Luckily, Tom saw the danger of the policeman throwing up onto the whole desk, so just in time he held a trash-can in front of his colleague, supporting Moritz’ stance as he emptied everything that was rotting inside of him into it.

“The graffiti …” the blondie coughed out, holding onto Tom who was standing next to him. Martin looked into Moritz’ eyes, seeing the fire that suddenly began burning inside of him.

“I know where he is … I know this place … I know it …” he added, almost entirely collapsing onto his colleague. The senior chief inspector nodded, heading towards the transmission room. Moritz couldn’t even process the fact that he just watched someone humiliating his partner – all that was in his mind was the need to save Arne. Immediately.

“You’re staying back and don’t interfere.”  
Martin’s words still echoed inside of Moritz’ head as the young policeman stood arms crossed, tightly wrapped in his uncomfortable civil jacket in the rain next to his colleagues from the ambulance. With him leading the handful of his colleagues, they would find Arne in no time as Moritz exactly knew where the graffiti was located. Like this, he had to poorly describe the labyrinth-like building to his boss with the hope that they would find the chief inspector in time.

Obviously he didn’t tell why he immediately recognized the art in the background, first of all because it meant Arne and Moritz maybe didn’t really kept it for themselves when on patrol together – and it was connected with so many personal memories for the twine, those were things not even their best friend’s knew. Amazing how the kidnapper knew so many things about his victim, yet not the fact that he and his partner had their first kiss right in front of the graffiti he tied him to. The kiss that most certainly would save Arne’s life in this moment.

//

His eyes shot open as he heard steps approaching, yet it weren’t the sounds he was familiar with. Arne was surprised that he still even could see or hear anything. The pain he felt told him otherwise, but maybe the case wasn’t lost tragically. More steps reached his hearing and when he saw the glowing white letters saying “Polizei” approaching, he thought that this was heaven’s gate at the end of the tunnel. A dream? Was he still dreaming? Or did he just slip into a new one and he would wake up to beatings anew?

“Found him!” the faint voice of Tom echoed against the concrete walls. Hearing his colleagues voice was enough for Arne to believe that he might’ve just died for real. The pain seemed to be gone, at everything seemed so light. What remained in his head was the fact he suddenly heard loud shouting of who seemed to be Martin, and a fight in the distance. Arne would leave the world in a good memory then.

“Robin, we have to get him out of here!”

“Wait, his hands are still tied …”

“What happened to your face?”

“M … Mo … Mo?” Arne was heard whispering, over and over again, as the cloth was carefully removed from his face. The last thing the chief inspector felt were two arms wrapping around him and picking him up, then his vision became dizzy.

//

Moritz wasn’t aware of the fact that Florian stood next to him, but the moment Tom and Rob dragged someone out of the building, he was thankful there was someone to hold him … to calm him. A million thoughts went through the inspector’s head, and the most prominent was the question if Arne was still alive. The way his colleagues dragged his partner, just the sight of the wounded arms and face overflown by bloodied wounds, Moritz couldn’t hold his tears back, not when he saw these happenings right in front of him.

Florian had a tough time holding his friend tight so he would not interfere the work of the paramedics and emergency doctor, who brought the hurt policeman immediately into the ambulance. Moritz knew that he had to wait, that he couldn’t be close to his partner yet, that he would have to be …

“Moritz.” Tom exclaimed, pointing at the blondie outside of the ambulance. What was happening? The emergency doctor nodded before disappearing back among the walls of the car, and Moritz’ taller colleague waved his hand.

“He keeps saying your name.” he stated, and for a moment Moritz thought that he spotted tears in the chief inspector’s eyes. And while the young policeman took all his last remaining strength together to face his partner, Martin and Ben too were seen leaving the building – Jakob handcuffed and strongly held down by the two senior chief inspectors.

It was silent, way too silent, and most of all way too bright in the room. Arne also wasn’t sitting on the dirty floor anymore, he found neatly white sheets around him and apparently he was laying what seemed to be a bed. Then he heard a chuckle coming from the right, confused he grabbed his head which was aching while pushing himself up.

“Where am I?” the older man asked the blondie sitting on the side of his bed, who had to suppress any more laughter.

“You should ask who you are, first of all. You look horrible.” Moritz smiled, however avoiding Arne’s gaze, eyeing the wooden floor instead. The smaller man raised his brows – at least what was left of them he felt like – and grabbed Moritz’ phone laying on the table next to him to look at his own reflection.

The blondie shifted to lean his upper body over his partner, who let the phone slide back onto the table, staring dead-eyed at Moritz. It wasn’t particularly funny how disfigured Arne’s face looked like, neither for him himself or his lover. Yet, both of them smiled at each other, as if never something happened and the older man just woke up of one of his naps. That was how it was supposed to be … _as if never something happened._

“I’m so glad to have you back.” the blondie whispered, carefully brushing his hand over the last remaining spots of his partner’s beard – at least those parts which didn’t get horribly burned off. He didn’t mind that Arne looked different now, the only thing that counted was that they were together again, inseparably.

“Trust me when I say this, I love you more than my life, and I think I proved that way too hard.” Arne chuckled and cupped his boyfriend’s fuzzily bearded cheeks. He felt how the cut in his lips burned as Moritz leaned in for a kiss, but this pain was way more endurable than whatever happened to be, and it was the most enjoyable pain he could have in this moment. Arne wasn’t even sure if he was even allowed to kiss his partner or something like that, but as much as he was a rightful man, that would’ve been a rule he’d happily break. Quickly their kiss deepened from soft smooches to more desperate French kisses, and both men weren’t aware of the fact how much they craved for each other during these handful days of separation. They most certainly arrived at a point in their lives where they couldn’t live without each other anymore.

“They only told me bits about that guy, Strauss or something. The exhausting case, had I been right with that thought?” Moritz asked as he had his head resting on Arne’s chest, looking at his partner with dreamy eyes. The scarred face wasn’t even noticeable for him anymore, all he thought about was how calming the sound of Arne’s breath sounded like and the warmth being close to him spread in his heart.

“Yeah, that guy. Before I spotted the graffiti, I hoped that you would remember that case, and how I felt in those weeks – after all you had to experience me first hand. I’m glad that you made it to find me … I just don’t have any words left for it. I don’t want to think about it, but it’s present. The doc said something about therapy earlier, I can’t even memorize this stuff yet. I need it, I guess.” Arne rambled for a short while, and the tone of his voice gave away how heavy the weight on his shoulders really was. It wasn’t easy at all, for neither of the twine.

“Will I ever, you know … be able to work again?” the older man murmured, eyeing his partner’s wallet which laid next to the phone, the familiar edge of Moritz’ police ID card glimpsing out of it. The blondie obviously noticed that, pushing his wallet out of Arne’s sight.

“You will. Physically you’re doing perfectly well, just some more rest until you’re on your legs again, at least.” the younger man assured and searched for his partner’s hand, grabbing it to put it on his own head. Arne knew what his boyfriend wanted, and to his surprise, caressing Moritz’ hair calmed him just as much as the other man.

“Do you think it’s going to be alright with this … thing …” Arne stumbled over his own words as he carefully let his own finger trace the scars and wounds in his face. They were countless and rough, badly healed and painful. Apart from the deep cut over his lips, the whole left side of his face seemed to have turned into the remainders of a burn injury. His right eye was entirely surrounded by a deep black-reddish spot from the “simple” hits he got, with luck at least that scar would heal out sooner or later. Another prominent wound was a deep cut over his forehead, which was already neatly stitched together. He didn’t mind the wounds on his arms and hands, though. Several deep cuts, black bruises and burn marks and his wrists entirely scarred by the tight handcuffs he had to wear.

“You’re still Arne, and that won’t change with the look of your face.” Moritz tried to assure his partner that this abduction wouldn’t ruin his remaining life, but obviously he wasn’t having any of these positive thoughts.

“People will be afraid of me … something like me can’t be a policeman anymore …” Arne began sobbing, something Moritz couldn’t stand at all. Quickly he pushed himself up, carefully cupping the sore cheeks of his lover before that one could start crying.

“Listen, Arne. The only people who will be afraid of you will be the criminals you arrest. The way your face looks doesn’t make you less of a charming, gentle and amazing human being, trust me. Also …” he interrupted his statement to lean in closer towards his partner “… it most certainly doesn’t make you less attractive either, Sir chief inspector.” Moritz whispered and connected their lips again, feeling the smile that was forming on Arne’s face.

“INCOMING!” a shout was heard from inside the department, both Arne and Moritz looking confused at each other. It was going to be Arne’s first day at work after months of recovery and therapy, and he was more than happy to be back at what he called his second home. The door at the top of the stairs was pushed open and faster than they could look, Paul charged out of it, jumping down the stairs right into Arne’s arms.

“I missed you, man, I missed you so hard and I felt so guilty after everything I did.” the smaller policeman exclaimed, tightly hugging his colleague. Moritz had to smile at the scene in front of him.

“You did nothing, Paule. It was an accident and I’m back in whole.” Arne smiled and too pulled his friend closer before they parted again. Basically every single one of the colleagues present greeted Arne in the dearest way they could, it was obvious that he was an essential part of the department. Last one to spare a visit was Martin, and Arne unconsciously became tense. The boss didn’t know the chief inspector’s “healed” face yet, although much didn’t change since the early days in hospital.

“I thought you wouldn’t return, I really did. I’m so glad that you’re back.” Martin gladly sighed as he spotted the couple walking into his office, too pulling Arne into a tight hug.

“Are you sure that I can still do this, with these scars?” Arne asked as the boss had placed himself back on his chair. Martin just laughed, leaning his arms onto the desk.

“Arne, your new uniform is placed in your locker, together with your renewed weapon belt. Do you think I can handle this messy hive without you? Get back to work, scars never kept someone from being a rightful policeman.” the boss exclaimed, raising his brows at the chief inspector.

Arne and Moritz looked at each other, and there were so many things the older man wanted to tell his partner, yet they still stood in Martin’s office.

“Do what you can’t leave be, I won’t look.” a murmur was heard from the other side of the room, and the two policemen didn’t even hesitate to tightly hug, ending in a sweet gentle kiss.

“Thank you, Mo. For everything. I love you.” Arne whispered with a bright smile on his face.

“Don’t thank me, thank yourself. I love you too, sweetheart.” Moritz replied, entwining their hands to head towards the locker room, starting the upcoming shift.


End file.
